John Davidson, the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations, was in his 16th week on the job when he fired general manager Scott Howson and replaced him with a relative unknown, Jarmo Kekalainen. It was the first important transaction of the Davidson administration. More will follow apace.

On a pragmatic level, or even from a Machiavellian point of view, the Howson firing made sense. As of last Monday, everyone in hockey operations was beholden to Howson. As of last Tuesday, they all work for Davidson. This seismic shift was accomplished with a singular, elegant move. Everyone understands who is in charge now.

Enter Kekalainen, Davidson’s guy — and now everyone else’s.

Davidson was clear on why he turned to Kekalainen, who becomes the first European general manager in NHL history. Davidson believes the Finn to be a man of character and ability. Davidson also knows his draft record, assembled during stints in Ottawa and St. Louis.

Kekalainen had a hand in drafting high first-round picks such as Bryan Berard, Chris Phillips, Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat, Jason Spezza and Alex Pietrangelo. He had a hand in drafting such mid- to late-first round picks such as T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund, David Perron and Vladimir Tarasenko, and such second-rounders as Mike Fisher, Antoine Vermette and David Backes.

What is more impressive is Kekalainen’s record in the deeper rounds. He had a hand in drafting Antti Niemi, Sami Salo, Chris Neil, Greg Zanon, Ray Emery, Brooks Laich, Lee Stempniak, Nikita Nikitin and Roman Polak — each taken in the fourth round or later.

Taken as a whole, Kekalainen’s decade-plus record of identifying and developing talent is an impressive one. Certainly, it is more impressive than what the Blue Jackets have managed over the same span of time.

To be fair, progress has been made in recent years. Cam Atkinson and Matt Calvert, to name two, are maturing nicely. Ryan Johansen, Ryan Murray and Boone Jenner, to name a few, are in the pipeline. What is curious is that many of the scouts who were in on these picks were purged by Howson, who fired his amateur and pro scouting directors two weeks prior to the 2011 draft and got rid of four amateur scouts one bloody day after the 2012 draft.

Last June, Howson went to the NHL scouting combine with his two amateur directors — Paul Castron, a veteran hand, and Tyler Wright, whose rise in the organization has been meteoric — and a strength coach, a trainer and a young assistant. No other scouts were on hand, which was odd. The Blue Jackets had a skeleton crew for an important event on the scouting calendar.

Enter Kekalainen, who is due to arrive in Columbus any day now. He was hired primarily to address the most-pressing concern, the next draft, for which the Blue Jackets have three first-round picks. These are prized picks for a deep draft.

Kekalainen already has a grasp of the European prospect pool, at the top of which floats Aleksander Barkov — a hulking center who holds dual Finnish-Russian citizenship, plays in Finland and is the top-rated prospect on the other side of the pond. Kekalainen’s next step will be to scour North America, and scout his takapuoli off.

If the next draft is the difference in the duration of the rebuilding project, as measured in years, the task of sustaining the project is equally important. How will Kekalainen shape his scouting department? What does he think of the prospects in the fold — or, for that matter, his present NHL roster? Which young players does he prize in other organizations and how can he get his hands on them? How about the coaches? Howson went through three in seven years, not counting interims. Does Kekalainen have a more-lasting prospect in mind?

The new philosophy is about foundation building, brick by brick, as Davidson likes to say. The process has only just begun, with one brick dislodged and replaced last week, and many more to follow.

Cannon Fodder Podcast

Cannon Fodder is the podcast from The Dispatch sports team covering the Blue Jackets. Tune in for lively discussions about the ta and the rest of the NHL. Subscribe to the show through its RSS feed or iTunes.

Commentary from the Dispatch

Columnist Michael Arace shares his thoughts on the Blue Jackets and the NHL.